Microsoft's Phil Spencer Talks Xbox One Parity Clause

Microsoft's Phil Spencer has defended the company's controversial Xbox One parity clause, arguing its there in order to make owners of the console feel more important.

Speaking on the Inner Circle podcast, Spencer explained the policy was designed to encourage developers to prioritise Microsoft's console rather than viewing it as an afterthought. For those not in the know, the Xbox One parity clause means developers can only release their titles on Xbox One if they haven't already been released on other consoles first. Despite widespread calls from the industry for it to be ditched, last we heard the company had no plans to do so.

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"I'll be honest, the thing I worry about is I look at all the people who buy an Xbox and invest their time and money in Xbox One," he said. "Millions of people own Xbox One and I want those people to feel like they're first class, because they are.

"When a third party game comes out it comes out on all platforms at the same time. When indie games come out, I want them to come out and I want Xbox to feel like it is a first class citizen when an indie game launches.

"I don't want somebody to come in and just think 'I'm going to go do a special game on one platform and then I'll get to Xbox whenever I get to it.' I don't think that's right."

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Having said this, Spencer acknowledges that sometimes there's no alternative for indie developers than to prioritise one system due to a shortage of resources. As a result, he claims Microsoft isn't opposed to the idea of addressing these instances on a case-by-case basis.

"I have a lot of friends who run small indie studios, and I get that timelines around when... they just can't get both games done at the same time or all 3 games, 4 games depending on how many platforms they're supporting," he said."So I [have been] just saying 'let's have a conversation', and it's worked. Today, I think we've done a good job working with the indies when they have had strict parity concerns if it's just a dev issue for them."

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK News Editor. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on Twitter.